National Ride2School Day

Kids enjoy some exercise and independence by riding to school. (Photo Eddie Barkla)

Wednesday 25 March was National Ride2School day which is a “Go for your life” initiative with the hope building behaviours and connections to assist our youth to be healthy and active.

‘Medical experts tell us that school students should be aiming for at least 60 minutes of daily activity to beat off obesity-related diseases, including diabetes 2 and cardiovascular disease,’ according to Ms Leigh Snelling, Ride2School’s Director. Leigh said National Ride2School Day was a great way of showing how easy it is to include exercise into daily routine for a healthier, cleaner and greener future.

When the going gets tough …

Eddie Barkla and Kevin Hall tackle the Alpine Classic

Head winds, heat, hills and long distance is not the combination that any rider would deliberately set out to face unless they are well prepared with a mental capacity that stares at these four challenges shouting loudly “bring it on”.

Most riders have a reasonably capacity of mental preparation and can get their mind around a 200 km ride but add one or two of the additional challenges this capacity may well wane somewhat.  There is an increasing call it seems of the mountains and extreme distances as a challenge for the recreational rider.

Age no barrier to freedom

It's never too late to enjoy free-wheeling freedom. (Photo Eddie Barkla)

Was asked recently to share a story to encourage seniors to get on the bike and maintain a healthy life style. This brought to mind two adages: “You are never too old to start” and “If you don’t use it you lose it”.

A very dear friend of our family while in his eighties participated in his first Great Victoria Bike ride and returned each year until he contracted prostrate cancer and had to miss out yet maintained his cycling to aid recovery. His aim every week was a solo 100klm ride as well as commuting around town most days. He has now passed on still vividly hear the resonating joy of his life’s journey of being motor mechanic by trade and garage owner, an amateur photographer and member of the local photographic club and a devoted field naturalist and how cycling was added fulfilling life’s end with many hours of freedom and enjoyment till the very end.

The value of rest

Resting the two active parts: the mind and the feet. (Photo Maree Barkla)

When we are young we tend to think we are invincible and capable of almost anything and any input that comes from wisdom of age is not always acceptable for such times.  In the youthful stage of life when we are told something it is natural to think that we know better and need to experience this for ourselves as we all know this is what life is all about.

Read a quote the other day from Mark Twain “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”My father has always been telling me to rest and slow down, something I have come to appreciate as sound advice and wisdom of age and the path to longevity. 

Don’t be a despiser of small beginnings

 

One of the great joys of cycling is being free to roam the open roads if one so chooses and this is something that we should never take for granted in this City or for that matter Australia.  We are truly a blessed City and Nation to be able to experience such freedom. Another aspect of the joys of cycling is other people of like mindedness that you can meet on the road any where at anytime. Everyone is a great achiever because they have made the step of “having a go” a great Aussie tradition and legacy of our fore fathers.
When coming across what is evident of a rider that is new to the experience when you come up beside them the conversations usually go something like this . The shocked rider who has slowed down might well be thinking and hoping that you will keep going and not spoil the moment of courage it may well have taken to be sharing the road with other vehicles, After assuring that you are happy to ride at their pace for a while and have no motive but to share a moment in time. The speed might pick up again but not to the point where conversation is not undertaken with ease.  “G’day how are you going?” response “Oh hec where did you come from?” “I am not as good or fit as you must be” which now opens up a wider conversation to address their perception. 

Tools to measure your progress

One of the first tools any cyclist considers is a basic Speedo which will measure the distance travelled the time taken average speed and top speed. These are a great encouragement to monitor your progress and improvement over a set course. Many riders utilise the same tried and proven route to train on or just to commute to work on. Keeping track of the average speed and top speed for a distance can have many variances such as the riders health on the day to a side, head or tail wind that can assist or hinder the progress. Over a few weeks one can see a pattern and makes some mile stone pegs in the sand to measure against. 

Being prepared for time in the saddle

Preparing for a long distance ride such as the Bay in a Day requires a base of sustained fitness that can be draw on. Time in the saddle is your preparation; most riders have the fitness but not necessarily the conditioning of the mind and body (bottom back and neck condition). 
Anybody that undertakes to ride in excess of 100Klm must be able to count the cost and know how to prepare and take account of their recovery; crossing some of these boundaries prior to a long ride gives some insights to building confidence. A simple philosophy that under pins such preparation is: If you have been doing things that work for you then be at peace and not seek too many improvements. Learn to break down the ride into achievements and celebrations of reaching each set goal.
If you have prepared right the objective of a long ride does not change much. You ride to enjoy the company of others, to increase your fitness and increase your health and achieve a sense of being an over comer of past mountains of the mind to reach set goals and to celebrate the achievement of all you share the ride with.

Keep yourself well maintained

Age no barrier: take care of yourself and you’ll be firing on all cylinders for years to come.
Photo: SantiMB FlickR

The older you get, the more important it is to take care of your wellbeing. But the older you get the less time you seem to have. We’re a bit like cars.

A friend of mine is a motor mechanic who says most people get it wrong when it comes to looking after their car.

A new car is always clean and polished and treated with loving care. It’s serviced regular as clock work, although it’s in prime condition and generally doesn’t need much maintenance. A little goes a long way in these first years.

As the car gets older it gets dusty and dinted and the times between services drag out – just when it needs more timely care. Moving parts have worn and you need to be sure everything’s functioning well to lessen the risk of an untimely failure.

How is your service book looking? It’s well known that regular exercise lessens the risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, and extends life and quality of life.

Look on the bright side of your bicycle

Powerful thinking: simply focusing on the positives improves your performance and safety. Photo www.pedbikeimages.org Annie Lux

Once you get on a bike it seems inevitable that you want to improve your fitness or tackle a big public ride. Almost as inevitable are the days when it seems as though you’re getting nowhere.

Don’t despair – that’s the secret. Your frame of mind is a major part of achieving any goal. Look on the gloomy side and everything seems to go wrong from there. You feel bad, you don’t perform as well, you make mistakes.

It might seem terribly simplistic, but positive thinking really can make a difference. In the language of sports psychology it’s called visualisation.

Relax for a better ride

A friend in her early 40s is learning to ride a long board. After the first “lesson” she complained that she felt like she’d been hit by a bus. True, she fell off a couple of times, but the real problem was that she was tense and tentative.

In order to skate without falling and without aching muscles she has to learn to relax. It’s the same on a bike.